12 March 2004	Friday	20 Muharram 1425

RAWALPINDI, March 11: A team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) here on Thursday discussed the implementation strategy of the ADB-funded Rawalpindi environment improvement project (REIP) with officials of the civic agencies and representatives of the local government.

Sources said the team held separate meetings with the district Nazim, officials of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and Nespak, besides meeting the Nazim of Rehmatabad.

The team, headed by the bank's urban development specialist, social sector, South Asia department, Shakeel A. Khan, reached here on Wednesday night and will remain in the city till March 21.

Later, the team will hold final meeting about the implementation of the project with the provincial government officials in Lahore on March 22.

Mr Khan told this reporter that the mission of the team was to reach at a consensus with the Punjab government over the objectives, scope, cost and implementation of the REIP besides financial arrangements for the project. He said the basic objectives of the project were environmental improvement, human resource development and alleviation of poverty in the city.

"The project is aimed at environmental improvement in general and providing basic services to the so-far neglected slums and low-income areas in particular," said Mr Khan in reply to a question.

The ADB had a bottom-up approach towards the implementation of the project; therefore, the bank wanted to elicit responses from all the stakeholders, including councillors and NGOs, regarding the best implementation of the project, he added.

"We have already arranged two workshops for inviting proposals from all the stakeholders and have decided to organize the third workshop on March 15." As Nespak had sent its final draft report to the ADB on February 23, the team also held meeting with its officials to remove the shortcomings in the proposal for implementation of the project, so that it should provide a comprehensive picture at the end, Mr Khan added.